FR2960920A1 - Starter for heat engine in automobile, has pushing unit pushing gear to outside of starter and allowing gear to engage with crown, and control unit controlling driving delay of pushing unit during inertial rotation of motor - Google Patents

Abstract

The starter has a position sensor (12) for detecting rotation angle or number of revolutions of a crankshaft (21). A toothed crown (11) is connected to the crankshaft. An electric motor (17) is provided for starting a heat engine. A pinion gear (14) transmits rotational efforts of the motor to the crown. A pushing unit pushes the gear to outside of the starter, and allows the gear to engage with the crown. A control unit controls driving delay of the pushing unit during inertial rotation of the motor.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a thermal engine starter automatically achieving an idle stop of a heat engine.

BACKGROUND OF THE PRIOR ART Conventionally, in order to improve the fuel efficiency of automobiles and to reduce environmental loads or the like, several automatic idle stop systems have been developed in which the idle stop is automatically realized when predetermined conditions are satisfied in an idle state, and a heat engine is made to restart without delay, if necessary. In such an automatic idle stop system, in order to restart a heat engine, a variety of methods for damping against mechanical shock have been proposed at the time a starter is driven to cause a sprocket to mesh. with a ring gear. For example, in the starter described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 045920/2000, a magnetic switch is driven after the heat engine has stopped, and furthermore a magnetic switch plunger is held by a magnetic switch. plunger stop, thus maintaining the state in which the pinion is meshing with the ring gear.

In addition, in the starter described in Japanese Patent Publication (unexamined) 163818/2008, in order to suppress the aforementioned plunger stop, the starter is constructed to maintain the state in which the pinion and the toothed crown are engaged in the shutdown state of the heat engine by a movement resistance to be generated when a power transmission is moving.

Furthermore, in the starter described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 314364/2000, it is arranged so that first of all, an electric starter motor is no longer powered after the start of the setting. in main engagement between the pinion gear and the ring gear, and the starter motor is first driven in partial load performance after the pinion gear and ring gear have been brought into gearing. at a sufficient depth and then the starter motor is driven according to a total load performance. In the heat engine starter, the starter method and the electric starter motor described in Japanese Patent Publication (unexamined) 045920/2000, which are however only intended to hold the plunger of the magnetic switch, provision is made for plunger stop which is composed by a solenoid. Therefore, there is a problem of bad assembly.

In the starter described in Japanese Patent Publication (unexamined) 163818/2008, since the stopping of the engine is determined to bring the pinion and the ring gear into engagement, there is a period of time during which time it is expected stopping the engine. In addition, although the pinion and the ring gear are determined to be engaged in order to stop feeding an electromagnetic drive mechanism of the electric motor of the starter, since the pinion is made to mesh with the ring gear by the rotation of the electric starter motor, the power consumption is increased. In addition, although the electromagnetic drive mechanism is controlled so that the pinion and the ring gear are engaged during the inertial rotation also before the complete shutdown of the engine, there is a possibility that, due to the rotation of the heat engine, the state in which the pinion and the ring gear are not engaged takes place to damage the pinion and the ring gear, or there is another possibility than in the case in which the pinion and the ring gear are determined to be engaged, since the electromagnetic drive mechanism is no longer powered even in the state in which the engine is not completely stopped, the pinion and the ring gear are caused to disengage one of the other. In addition, in order to maintain the engagement between the pinion gear and the ring gear after the electromagnetic drive mechanism is no longer energized, the coefficient of friction of the two gears becomes large and in the case in which the coefficient of friction is changed depending on the use status or the ring gear is brought in reverse rotation, there is a possibility of their release.

In addition, by mounting another relay and a resistor, the electric starter motor is driven by a torque with which the engine can not exceed its top dead center, whereby at the time of idle stop, the implementation grip is maintained by the repulsive force from the ring gear at that time. However, in the case where the resistance value is decreased, affected by the environmental conditions, and the torque exceeds the top dead center, there is a possibility that the idle stop can not be realized but continues on. start-up. Other problems other than those mentioned above, due to a sensor mounted to confirm the engagement between the gears and the ring gear or the arrangement of the mechanism mentioned above, there is still another problem. incorrect starter mounting, increased cost or increased power consumption. In addition, in the starter described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 314364/2000, a distance sensor is used to determine a depth of engagement of the pinion, and with this sensor a film magnetic device which is fixed on a component previously brought into engagement, undergoes detection and a signal proportional to the distance of the pinion relative to the opposite magnetic regions provided on this film is formed, so that there is a problem in a system difficult to build and expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the problems discussed above and its object is to provide a thermal engine starter in which a pinion gear and a ring gear can reliably be brought into engagement. during the inertial rotation of a heat engine by stopping at idle, thus allowing the power consumption to be eliminated without being expensive without being affected by the change in coefficient of friction due to the wear of the pinion gear or the ring gear or environmental changes, also allowing also to achieve high reliability and longer life of parts without the need to make major changes to an existing structure. A thermal engine starter according to the present invention comprises: a crankshaft position sensor detecting an angle of rotation or a number of revolutions of a crankshaft transmitting a rotation of a heat engine; a ring gear connected to said crankshaft and transmitting the rotation of the engine; an electric starter motor to start the engine; a pinion gear transmitting rotation of said starter motor to said ring gear; pinion gear drive means for outputting said pinion gear and causing said pinion gear to mesh with said ring gear; and geared gear thrust control means for controlling a drive timing of said geared gear thrusting means; wherein, during the inertial rotation of the engine after the idling stop conditions have been satisfied, when the speed of the engine becomes a speed at which the rotary restart control can not be performed, said engine control means pinion gear thrust only monitor the decrease of the speed of the engine during the inertial rotation; and when the speed of the engine is not higher than a predetermined speed and in the case where a restart request is absent before the lapse of a first predetermined period of time T1 after the driving means pinion mentioned have been fed, said sprocket gear thrust control means stop supplying said sprocket gear thrusting means mentioned and after which, in the case where the restart request is present after the flow. of a second predetermined period of time T2 after said pinion gear pushing means has been energized, said pinion gear pushing control means feeds the starter motor.

Since the pinion gear and the ring gear can be reliably engaged during the inertial rotation of the engine by stopping at idle, there is an advantage that it is possible to inexpensively suppress the power consumption unaffected by change in coefficient of friction due to wear of the pinion gear or ring gear or environmental changes, and high reliability and longer life can be achieved of living rooms without the need to change the existing structure enormously. Advantageously, said sprocket pushing means are powered when the speed of the engine is not higher than a predetermined set speed, and in the case where a restart request is present before the first period of predetermined time T1 and in the case in which the flow of a second predetermined time period T2 after said pinion thrust means have been energized, said starter motor is energized. Advantageously, the first predetermined period of time T1 is a period of time from the start of the drive of said gears gear pushing means until the complete shutdown of the engine. Advantageously, the second predetermined period of time T2 is a period of time in which when the pinion gear is in a fixed position, after the pinion gear pushing means has been started to be energized, the gear is pinions is brought into contact with the ring gear to finally obtain a stable pressure.

The above and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic control arrangement of a thermal engine starter according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a starter structure of a thermal engine starter according to the first embodiment of the invention. Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of idle stop control according to the first embodiment of the invention. Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of a normal start command according to the first embodiment of the invention. Fig. 5 is a graph showing an example of a graph of times for supplying a pinion drive solenoid (PDS) and an electric motor drive relay (MDR) according to the first embodiment of the invention. .

Fig. 6 is a graph showing another example of a time graph for supplying a pinion drive solenoid (PDS) and an electric motor drive relay (MDR) according to the first embodiment of the invention. .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, a thermal engine starter according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1 Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic control arrangement of a heat engine starter according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In the drawing, a heat engine ECU 10 makes a determination as to whether the idle stop conditions are satisfied or not, and introduces the result of the determination into a heat engine starter 19. idle stop include the conditions of the heat engine such as whether the cooling water temperature is correct, or whether a battery voltage is not less than a predetermined value, or the operating conditions so that no idle stop is made in the case where a vehicle does not move at a vehicle speed no lower than a certain number of km / h after the previous idle stop. The heat engine starter 19 is composed of a ring gear 11 which is connected to a crankshaft 21 of the heat engine and transmits a heat engine speed, a crankshaft position sensor 12 acting to detect the position of the crankshaft of the heat engine, a starter 18 and a controller 13 controlling the idling stop. The starter 18 is provided with an electric motor drive relay 20, an electric starter motor 17 to thus drive, a pinion gear 14 acting to transmit the rotation of the electric starter motor 17, a plunger 15 to push out the pinion gear 14 and cause it to mesh with the ring gear 11, and a pinion drive solenoid (PDS) 16 which can cause the plunger 15 to move once it is put into motion. walk. The idle stop controller 13 performs a start command with respect to the electric motor drive relay 20 acting to energize the starter motor 17 and a start command relative to the drive driving solenoid. pinion 16 acting to give a pulse force to the plunger 15 to drive a pinion gear. In this regard, although the controller 13 and the engine ECU 10 are shown individually in FIG. 1, instead of providing the controller 13, the engine ECU 10 can centrally perform a processing and thus the controller 13 of the heat engine starter 19 may comprise the engine ECU 10. The plunger 15 and the piston drive solenoid (PDS) 16 form pinion gear drive means, and the controller 13 and / or the engine ECU 10 form pinion gear thrust control means. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a practical construction of the starter 18 of the heat engine starter 19 described above. An output shaft 1 of the electric starter motor 17 is supported by a bearing 2a which is provided on a front console 2 and a bearing 3a which is provided on a rear console 3. In addition, the pinion gear 14 is supported by sliding manner on the output shaft 1. This pinion gear 14 is moved in the axial direction of the output shaft 1 via a shift lever 4 by the power from the pinion drive solenoid 16. In FIG. furthermore, the ring gear 11 is disposed in a position opposite to the piston gear 14. When the starter motor 17 is rotated in the state in which the aforementioned pinion gear 14 is in mesh with the ring gear 11, a heat engine not shown must be driven. Reference numeral 6 designates a starter mounting portion for mounting the starter 18 on the engine. The pinion drive solenoid 16 has the plunger 15 in the inner portion. This plunger 15 is drawn toward the left side of the drawing when the pinion drive solenoid 16 is energized, and causes the piston gear 14 to move on the side of the ring gear 11 via the shift lever. 4. In addition, the plunger 15 is moved to the right side of the drawing by the repulsive power of a spring 7 when the pinion drive solenoid 16 is no longer energized, and releases the engagement between The gearing of the first embodiment according to the invention with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. 3 and 4, and the graphs of the feed times of the pinion drive solenoid are described below. (PDS) and the electric motor drive relay (MDR) of Figures 5 and 6. These operations are to be processed by the controller 13 and the engine ECU 10 which form the thrust control means. e geared gear mentioned above. First, the idle stop command before engagement between the pinion gear 14 and the ring gear 11 is described with reference to Fig. 3. First, with a signal to be introduced in the engine ECU 10, it is determined whether the idle stop conditions are satisfied or not (S110). When the idle stop conditions are not satisfied, this state is maintained until they are satisfied.

When the idle stop conditions are satisfied in step 5110, an idle stop command is started (5111), and the fuel supply to the engine is stopped by the engine engine ECU control. 10. Then, during the decrease in the number of revolutions of the ring gear 11 with the inertial rotation of the engine (see the number of revolutions of a ring gear in FIG. 5), the speed of the engine is monitored using the crankshaft position sensor 12. In addition, it is determined whether the number of revolutions of the ring gear 11 under surveillance is less than or not the number of revolutions at which the ring gear 11 meshes with the pinion gear 14 to allow a rotation meshing restart control (S112). In the case where the rotation gear restart control can be carried out, it is determined whether there is a request to restart the engine from a driver or not (for example, removing his foot from a pedal of brake) with a signal introduced into the ECU of the engine 10 (S113). In the case of the presence of such a restart request, the operation proceeds to step S114, in which it is determined whether the number of revolutions Nr of the ring gear is less than or not the number of revolutions (for example, 500 rpm) to allow automatic reset of the engine. Although the number of ring gear revolutions Nr is operated using the controller 13 with a sensor input period from the crank position sensor 12, alternatively, the number of ring gear revolutions Nr can be detected. using other means, such as FV (frequency-voltage) conversion of a signal from an encoder or pulse generator.

In this regard, the number of revolutions to allow the automatic reset of the engine must be the number of revolutions at which the restart can be achieved only by the injection and ignition of the fuel without starting performance using the starter 18 , and there is a command to facilitate combustion by injecting rather large amounts of fuel. However, details of the automatic reset control of the heat engine are not within the scope of the invention.

When in step S114, the number of ring gear turns is determined to be not less than the number of revolutions to allow the automatic reset of the engine, the operation proceeds to step S115, wherein the control of automatic reset of the engine is performed and the engine is restarted. In the case in which in step S112, the number of gearwheel revolutions is not greater than the number of revolutions at which the rotation gearing restart request can be made, the operation proceeds to step S116, to which a normal restart command is performed. Furthermore, in the case in which in step S114, the number of ring gear revolutions is not greater than the number of revolutions to allow the automatic reset of the heat engine, the operation goes to step S117, to which the starting using the starter 18 is performed and a rotation intermeshing restart control S117 is performed.

The operations at the time of the normal restart command S116, which is a target of the invention, are now described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. In the case in which the normal restart request is passed. S116, the next step is to wait for the speed of the heat engine at which the engagement between the pinion gear 14 and the ring gear 11 can be made (S210). The speed of the engine at that time is set to be selected in a low speed range of the engine, but can also be set to be in the stopped state. When in step S210, the speed of the engine is not greater than the starting speed for feeding the gear drive solenoid (PDS) (for example point A of FIG. 5), the solenoid of Gear drive (PDS) is started to be powered (S211). In this state, in the case of the presence of the restart request before the lapse of a predetermined period of time T1 after the pinion thrust means (PDS) mentioned above have been energized, when a period of predetermined time T2 has elapsed after the aforementioned sprocket pushing means has energized (S213), the above-mentioned electric starter motor (MDR) is energized (S214) and the sprocket gear and the ring gear are brought into engagement. The predetermined period of time T2 must be a period of time from one point of time when the geared gear drive means has been started to be energized to a point of time when the gear gear is brought in contact with the ring gear finally to maintain a stable pressure. Then, the engine is started with a starter, and it is determined whether or not the complete explosion which is the restart of the engine is performed or not (S215). When the determination of the complete explosion (S215) has been completed, the pinion drive solenoid (PDS) and the electric motor drive relay (MDR) are no longer energized and the restart command is terminated (see Figure 5). While in the case of the absence of any request for restarting the heat engine in step S212, it is determined whether the predetermined time period T1 has elapsed or not (S217). Then, when it is determined that the predetermined time period T1 has not elapsed, operation returns to step S212, at which the determination of whether a restart request is present or not. The predetermined period of time T1 must be a period of time from the beginning of the drive of the pinion gear drive means which are composed of the plunger 15 and the pinion drive solenoid 16 to the stop complete engine. In the case where the predetermined time period T1 has elapsed without a restart request, the gear drive solenoid (PDS) is no longer powered (S218) to wait for the restart request when it exists (S219 ). For example, in the case of the presence of the restart request at point B of FIG. 6, the pinion drive solenoid (PDS) is again energized (S220), and after having waited for the period to elapse of predetermined time T2 (S221), the electric motor drive relay (MDR) is then started to be powered (S214). After, the operation proceeds to steps S215 and S216 to complete the restart command (see Fig. 6). As described above, in the thermal engine starter according to the first embodiment of the invention, when a thermal engine speed is determined so as not to be able to carry out the rotation meshing restart control, only the reduction of a thermal engine speed during the inertial rotation is monitored, and in response to the restart request, the electric motor drive relay, i.e. an electric starter motor is powered, after the flow of the time period T2 from a time point where the pinion drive solenoid, i.e. the pinion gear drive means has been energized to a point of time wherein the pinion gear is brought into contact with the ring gear finally to obtain a stable pressure. Therefore, the pinion gear and the ring gear can be reliably engaged without damaging the pinion gear or the ring gear at the moment of engagement between the pinion gear and the ring gear. . Therefore, a sensor for confirming rotation stop of the heat engine or a sensor acting to confirm engagement between the pinion gear and the ring gear becomes unnecessary, allowing the structure to have a longer duration of rotation. life and low cost.5

Claims (4)

REVENDICATIONS1. A thermal engine starter, characterized in that it comprises: a crankshaft position sensor (12) detecting an angle of rotation or a number of revolutions of a crankshaft transmitting a rotation of a heat engine; a ring gear (11) connected to said crankshaft and transmitting the rotation of the engine; an electric starter motor (17) for starting the heat engine a pinion gear (14) transmitting rotation of said starter motor to said gear; sprocket gear sprocket means for controlling a timing of driving of said sprocket gear thrust means; In which, during the inertial rotation of the engine after satisfying the idle stop conditions, when the speed of the engine becomes a speed at which the rotary restart control can not be performed, said engine control means gear pinion thrust only monitors the decrease in the speed of the crown motor to push said pinion gear to bring said pinion gear 20 to said ring gear; and gear thrust control means externally and intermeshly meshing during the inertial rotation; and when the speed of the engine is not higher than a predetermined set speed and in the case where a restart request is absent before the lapse of a first predetermined period of time T1 after said thrust means are sprung, said sprocket gear thrust control means stop supplying said sprocket gear thrust means and then, in the case where the restart request is present, after the thrust of a second predetermined time period T2 after said pinion gear pushing means has been energized, said pinion gear pushing control means feeds the starter motor. The thermal engine starter according to claim 1, wherein said sprocket pushing means is energized when the speed of the engine is not higher than a predetermined set speed, and in the case where a restart request is present before the lapse of the first predetermined period of time T1 and in the case where the flow of a second predetermined period of time T2 after said pinion thrust means have been energized, said starter motor is powered. The thermal engine starter according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first predetermined period of time T1 is a period of time from starting the drive of said gears gear pushing means to the complete stop of the gears. thermal motor. The thermal motor starter according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second predetermined period of time T2 is a period of time in which when the pinion gear is in a fixed position, after the gear pushing means. have been started to be energized, the pinion gear is brought into contact with the ring gear to finally obtain a stable pressure.